Smart infrastructure sensing and communication system

ABSTRACT

The reflect array system includes a resonant structure formed of an array of resonant cells and for passive reflection of incident signals. The resonant structure generates a radio frequency (“RF”) signal that is shaped and steered by the reflect array.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.16/115,521, filed on Aug. 28, 2018, and incorporated herein byreference; which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/551,761, filed on Aug. 29, 2017, and incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

Globally, there is a need for higher energy efficiency, enhancedwireless communications, and new ways to utilize and optimize existinginfrastructures to achieve these goals. One example is in smartbuildings, where new technologies have emerged to reduce energy use,maintain a more comfortable work and living environment, and enablebetter communication among building dwellers. Other examples includesmart vehicles, smart roads, smart traffic signals, and other smartinfrastructures.

A key to achieving these goals is better wireless connectivity betweensmart infrastructures and the outside world. The emerging 5G standard isexpected to address the growing demands for greater speed, more data,more devices, and lower latency. However, as the 5G standard operates inthe millimeter wave spectrum, wireless signals have a short range (justover a kilometer) and become more susceptible to propagation loss, highatmospheric attenuation and other environmental degradation. These andother challenges impose more ambitious goals on smart infrastructuredesign.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection withthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to likeparts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a smart infrastructure sensing andcommunication system for use in a smart building in accordance withvarious examples;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an application for the smartinfrastructure sensing and communication system of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows another example application for the smart infrastructuresensing and communication system of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a smart infrastructuresensing and communication system in accordance with various examples;

FIG. 5 illustrates different configurations of resonant cells for apassive sensing and communication system in accordance with variousexamples;

FIG. 6 illustrates a single layer patch resonant cell for use in apassive sensing and communication system in accordance with variousexamples;

FIG. 7 illustrates a double layer patch resonant cell for use in apassive sensing and communication system in accordance with variousexamples; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a resonant cell for use in an activesensing and communication system in accordance with various examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A smart infrastructure sensing and communication system is disclosed.The system is suitable for many different applications and can bedeployed in a variety of different environments and configurations. Invarious examples, the system can be deployed in smart infrastructuressuch as smart buildings, vehicles, street signs, lamp posts and so on.The system can utilize the infrastructure materials and structuralconfiguration of a variety of infrastructure types to enhance theirinternal environment. In some examples, the system is attached to aglass window or other such interface of the smart infrastructure toenable enhanced communications, where the system acts as a relay toenable high frequency signals to pass through the glass or other suchinterface to users, devices or other smart infrastructures. This becomesmore and more and important with the dependency on and use of cellularand other wireless communications and signaling.

It is appreciated that, in the following description, numerous specificdetails are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of theexamples. However, it is appreciated that the examples may be practicedwithout limitation to these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods and structures may not be described in detail toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the examples. Also, theexamples may be used in combination with each other.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of a smart infrastructuresensing and communication system for use in a smart building inaccordance with various examples is described. Smart building 100 is aninfrastructure with building, technology, and energy systems to controland enhance the operations of building 100 and its internal environment.As illustrated, smart building 100 has two smart infrastructure sensingand communications systems 102-104 attached to two of its glass windows.Systems 102-104 are in communication with a controller 106 to controland take actions that enhance building 100's internal environment.Controller 106 may include artificial intelligence modules to learn fromcommunications received from systems 102-104, take actions, and alsocontrol systems 102-104 in a variety of scenarios. In this way, systems102-104 are suitable for a range of applications such as radar forautonomous vehicles, wireless base station transmissions, smart glasscontrols, health and medical sensing and response implementations,safety and environmental sensing and monitoring, building structuresensing, and so forth. The smart controller 106 is able to adapt to eachof these scenarios.

In some examples, systems 102-104 provide ways to determine the internaluse of a room, office, space and so forth, within building 100, so as toadjust the energy consumption therein. In this way, when a room is notin use there may be less need to light the room; on detection of a spacethat is not in use, systems 102-104 send a message to controller 106 toadjust thermostat, air conditioning, window treatments and so forth. Inother examples, systems 102-104 enable monitoring of the frame andstructure of the building 100 to identify potential safety issues andprovide warning signals and messages to controller 106 that enablecorrection. This may identify conditions that would cause a loss ofintegrity and potential failure in building 100.

As illustrated, systems 102-104 are formed, placed, configured,embedded, or otherwise connected to a portion of building 100, such asits glass windows. The location of systems 102-104 may be in the upperor lower part of the windows away from users' or building dwellers'field of view. Systems 102-104 are resonant structures or reflect arrayshaving an array of resonant elements or cells 108. Each resonant elementmay include a single or multi-layer patch, loop or metamaterial. Ametamaterial is an artificially structured element used to control andmanipulate physical phenomena, such as the electromagnetic (“EM”)properties of a signal including its amplitude, phase, and wavelength.

Metamaterial structures behave as derived from inherent properties oftheir constituent materials, as well as from the geometrical arrangementof these materials with size and spacing that are much smaller relativeto the scale of spatial variation of typical applications. Ametamaterial is not a tangible new material, but rather is a geometricdesign of known materials, such as conductors, that behave in a specificway. A metamaterial cell may be composed of multiple microstrips, gaps,patches, vias, and so forth having a behavior that is the equivalent toa reactance element, such as a combination of series capacitors andshunt inductors. Various configurations, shapes, designs and dimensionsmay be used to implement specific designs and meet specific constraints.In some examples, a metamaterial cell having a number of edges anddiscontinuities may model a specific-type of electrical circuit andbehave in a similar manner. In this way, a metamaterial cell radiatesaccording to its configuration. Changes to the reactance parameters ofthe metamaterial cell result in changes to its radiation pattern. Wherethe radiation pattern is changed to achieve a phase change or phaseshift, the resultant structure is a powerful antenna, as small changesto the metamaterial cell can result in large changes to a resultingbeamform.

A metamaterial cell may include a variety of conductive structures andpatterns, such that a received transmission signal is radiatedtherefrom. In various examples, each metamaterial cell 108 may have someunique properties. These properties may include a negative permittivityand permeability resulting in a negative refractive index; thesestructures are commonly referred to as left-handed materials (“LHM”).The use of LHM enables behavior not achieved in classical structures andmaterials, including interesting effects that may be observed in thepropagation of electromagnetic waves, or transmission signals.Metamaterials can be used for several interesting devices in microwaveand terahertz engineering such as antennas, sensors, matching networks,and reflectors, such as in telecommunications, automotive and vehicular,robotic, biomedical, satellite and other applications. For antennas,metamaterials may be built at scales much smaller than the wavelengthsof transmission signals radiated by the metamaterial. Metamaterialproperties come from the engineered and designed structures rather thanfrom the base material forming the structures. Precise shape,dimensions, geometry, size, orientation, arrangement and so forth resultin the smart properties capable of manipulating EM waves by blocking,absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves. In various examples, control ofbeam form and direction in a metamaterial cell 108 may be achieved by avoltage controlled variable reactance device in each cell.

Systems 102-104 may be passive or active resonant structures. As passivestructures, systems 102-104 act as relays reflecting radio frequency(“RF”) signals from the outside world (whether from a wireless basestation or another such system located in another smart infrastructure)to specific and predefined locations inside the building 100, such as tocontroller 106. The glass windows to where the systems 102-104 areattached may act as a filter to RF signals, and therefore, the additionof the systems 102-104 enables the RF signals received at the glass tobe relayed to controller 106 and/or users in the building 100. In someexamples, systems 102-104 provide a passive bandpass filter antenna onthe glass windows and enable transmission of EM radiation blocked by theglass glazing's infrared coating. This overcomes some of thedifficulties of high frequency wireless communications as cellularsystems move to 5th generation.

As active structures, systems 102-104 include active resonant cells,such as a metamaterial cell with a voltage controlled varactor. Theactive cells also reflect RF signals from the outside world, but unlikepassive cells, they are able to reflect RF signals to multipledirections as needed through beam forming and phase shifting. Thevaractors on active metamaterial cells enable phase shifting of thereceived RF signals to achieve the desired beam dimensions to transmitthe received signal to controller 106 or a user or device proximate thesystems 102-104. The systems 102-104 can collectively be used to furtherreduce the beam width and increase the field of view or communicate in aNon-Line-of-Sight way. Individually, each system can act as a sub-arraycontrolling each beam separately. Note that the user need not be in agiven position, such as close to the glass window to where systems102-104 are attached, but may be anywhere within the room, space orbuilding 100. The systems 102-104 are able to locate the user, anddirect signals to the user. The systems 102-104 are also capable totransmit signals to any number of users, including the ability tomulticast a same signal to multiple users.

This low-complexity, planar geometry has thin architecture, that may beprinted on a surface, such as a PCB board, glass, paper or othermaterial. This design eliminates the complex needs associated withdigital beam forming, resulting in a low cost, low complexity, reducedpower, small footprint, flexible use system. The active systems 102-104incorporate novel metamaterial cells with varactors for phase shiftingthat replace traditional phase shifting circuitry, and also may be usedin combination with these traditional circuits, so as to provide optimumsystems while allowing legacy extension. This may be critical inapplications where a system needs regulatory approval and themanufacturer wants time to incorporate new technologies slowly.

The systems 102-104 offer high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio(“SNR”). Once the resonant elements and structures are designed, theymay be simply constructed and manufactured to a variety of applications.In some applications, systems 102-104 are integrated into glasssubstrates, such as for use in building 100's windows. Systems 102-104may also be used in car windows, house windows and other locations wherecommunication enhancement is desired or where microwave signaltransmission is desired. In some examples, the systems 102-104 areintegrated into a glass substrate along with thin film transistors.

As illustrated, systems 102-104 may track occupancy, determine location,communicate signals to and from the user. Systems 102-104 may also beused in coordination with smart glass, such as electrochromic glass,that measures or predicts an internal room temperature. The systems102-104 may receive an indication of internal room temperature and/or anindication to take action to adjust the internal room temperature oranother aspect (e.g., lighting, alarm system, security system, etc.) ofthe smart building 100, and then send a signal to controller 106 in theroom or to a cell phone or wireless device of a user, whereupon anadjustment is made. The systems 102-104 may also be used to transmit theadjustment information, such as a record of what action was taken, tocontroller 106 or another computational device (not shown) for loggingthe conditions and resultant action taken.

It is appreciated that the systems 102-104 can replace conventionalphase shift applications. The active systems 102-104 incorporate novelmetamaterial cells with varactors for phase shifting that replacetraditional phase shifting circuitry, and also may be used incombination with these traditional circuits, so as to provide optimumsystems while allowing legacy extension. This may be critical inapplications where a system needs regulatory approval and themanufacturer wants time to incorporate new technologies slowly. Systems102-104 with active metamaterial cells are able to provide spatiallyvarying phase shift distribution and control angular distribution ofreflected power. The phases of the array elements are tuned so that theeffective radiation pattern is reinforced in desired directions andsuppressed in undesired directions.

In some examples, an all-electronic beam steering and scanning apparatusreduces the need for high computational processing that typicallyrequires additional hardware. This hardware may be cumbersome and add tothe weight, cost and design of a product. For example, in a commercialbuilding there is ability to route information throughout the buildingwith these systems 102-104 placed in various locations. The systems102-104 can form a network that cascades a signal throughout a building.It is common for a given building to have areas of high cellularreceptivity and areas of low-to-no receptivity. This may be overcome bytransmitting the cellular, or other wireless signal, from window towindow, or window to wall, or window to door, and so forth. Systems102-104 allow the entire building 100 to benefit from the strongestsignal available. Smart controls (e.g., in controller 106) identify thestrongest signal and implement an efficient, effective cascade scenario.This also may provide double paths, allowing the accumulated signalreceived to be greater than that cascaded through a single path.

This cascading may be enhanced in some examples, where the systems102-104 and/or at least a portion of the electronic circuit thatcontrols the systems 102-104 may be made of a transparent conductor,such as Indium Tin Oxide (“ITO”), enabling a relay from window towindow, or otherwise as described herein. The ability for a building 100to provide RF signals to parts of the building where cellcoverage/reception is limited is critical to business at all cellularfrequencies. Some examples incorporate these into the windows ofvehicles to enable vehicle to vehicle communication, as well ascommunication to smart roads, smart buildings, smart traffic signals andsigns, and so forth. Systems 102-104 make a universal network possibleby incorporating existing structures and known devices. They also enablequick updates without modification or replacement of hardware, as activemetamaterial cells may be controlled by software, which may be remotelyupgraded, updated, modified and so forth.

The specific cascade path, or the number of steps involved, may betransmitted back to the transmitting source, such as a base station, tocommunicate to the base station the need for more focused, or lessfocused, transmission beams to the building 100. The systems 102-104 maybe embedded, or built into, a window, for example. Such a configurationmay construct resonant structures in systems 102-104 using a transparentconductive material, such as ITO. The circuit does not interfere withthe visibility and transparency of the window, and also may be designedto change transparency characteristic to match that of the window, suchas for an electrochromic window. In this way, when the window becomesopaque, the circuit also becomes opaque.

In window applications, external and/or internal coatings on thesubstrate intended to block sunlight from entering a room may also actto block electromagnetic (“EM”) radiation, such as cellular signals. Insome examples, a band pass filter may be incorporated into the glasssubstrate to allow desired EM radiation frequencies to pass through thewindow. In some examples, such structures are patterned or etched ontothe substrate, such as glass. Such a passive device using a resonantstructure allows communications to get into the building 100 as it actsa relay. Some examples incorporate a system for occupancy sensing in abuilding or space to count the number of people. This may be used tocount people within a structure or outside a structure, such as in apark or during an event. The system in a building (e.g., system 102 or104) may be connected to an energy management system, which enablesheating, cooling and air filtering as a function of the location, numberand density of the population in order to save energy in the building aswell as to provide a comfortable environment. The ability to count thenumber of people in the building 100 is critical to firemen and police,when determining the occupancy of the building in an emergency. Theseexamples act as a flight black box, maintaining a current record of theoccupancy and density of the building 100.

The examples described above may be used with existing technologies as asensing and transmission mechanism, such as to incorporate with microDoppler sensors, EM radiation sensors, micro-motion sensors and soforth. In medical applications, the sensors may enable monitor of heartbeat, breathing patterns, or other important metrics, providing an earlywarning system to the individual or the medical professional as to adeteriorating condition. In some examples, the system may monitor heartbeats to detect an impending heart incident or heart attack. Monitoringbreathing patterns may avoid an asthma attack, as well as to monitor ababy or child. In some examples, resonant structures are built intoequipment, such as fire-fighting equipment, to quickly ascertain thenumber of people in a building that is on fire. This avoid the potentialperil and loss of life, as well as enabling the professional to focustheir efforts on the most important areas of the building 100.

FIG. 2 shows an example application for the smart infrastructure sensingand communication system of FIG. 1 . Wireless base station 200 transmitsand receives wireless signals from mobile devices within its coveragearea. The coverage area may be disrupted by buildings or otherstructures in the environment, thereby affecting the quality of thewireless signals. In the illustrated example, buildings 202 and 204affect the coverage area of base station 200 such that it has aLine-of-Sight (“LOS”) zone. Users of devices outside of this zone mayhave either no wireless access or significantly reduced coverage.

Wireless coverage can, however, be provided to users outside of the LOSzone by the installation of a sensing and communication system 206 on aglass window of building 202 as described above. System 206 with anarray of resonant cells is able to act as a relay between base station200 and users outside of its LOS zone. Users in a Non-Line-of-Sight(“NLOS”) zone are able to receive wireless signals that are reflectedoff the system 206 from wireless signals transmitted by the base station200. The system 206 can be either a passive or active resonant structureas described herein to effectively provide wireless coverage to NLOS ordead zones.

Another example application for the smart infrastructure sensing andcommunication system of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 3 . As illustrated,vehicle 300 has a sensing and communication system 302 attached to itswindow. The system 302 is able to receive wireless signals from basestation 304, act as a relay to reflect them and providevehicle-to-vehicle (“V2V”) communications with other sensing andcommunication systems in its vicinity, such as system 306. The system302 is also able to communicate with system 308 to provideinfrastructure-to-vehicle (“I2V”) communication capabilities. Thesystems 302, 306 and 308 may all be used in various road andenvironmental situations requiring the effective relay of communicationmessages, including to assist emergency response systems.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 4 , which shows a schematic diagramillustrating a smart infrastructure sensing and communication system inaccordance with various examples. Sensing and communication system 400has an array of resonant cells for relaying RF signals, such as wirelesssignal 402 received from a base station. In various examples, system 400may be either a passive or active relay for reflecting received RFsignals into beamforms that are then transmitted to other such systemsor wireless devices. In the case of active resonant cells, DC controlmay be provided to varactors in the cells for transmitting the reflectedRF signals to multiple directions as needed through beam forming andphase shifting. The reflected RF signals may be sent to a controller 406inside a smart infrastructure, smart vehicle and so on that includes thesystem 400 attached to its window. The reflected RF signals may also besent to wireless devices in the vicinity of system 400, such as wirelessdevice 408 of a user that may be inside the smart infrastructure.

FIG. 5 illustrates different example configurations of resonant cellsfor a passive sensing and communication system. The passive sensing andcommunication system, e.g., system 102 or 104 of FIG. 1 , includes anarray of resonant cells to act as an RF signal relay and providepoint-to-point wireless connectivity between two nodes. Resonant cellstructures may include etched patterns on glass materials and can eitherbe all metallic or formed of a combination of metal and dielectricpatterned layers. The resonant cells can have either a single ormultiple layer resonant patches or loops. As illustrated, resonant cell500 has a single layer patch, resonant cell 502 has a single layer loop,resonant cell 504 has a multi-layer patch, and resonant cell 506 is asingle layer, multi-loop resonant cell. Resonant cells 500-506 are sizedto be a fraction (e.g., ½, ⅓ or ¼) of the RF signal wavelength.

Each resonant cell configuration has its characteristics and advantages.Resonant cell 500 with the single layer patch is light weight, easy tofabricate, and provides a very sharp resonant. However, cell 500 doesnot offer a full 360° phase range, limiting its application to a relaywith RF transmission to specific directions and locations. Resonant cell504 is a multi-resonator that can extend the phase range even beyond afull 360° and provide a flatter resonance, albeit at an increasedfabrication complexity and/or weight. And resonant cells 502 and 506have the advantage of providing a reflect array in which the metalloop(s) occupies very little surface area and offering high transparencyin case the cells are fabricated with visible silver printing. The metalloop can provide sharper resonance and even a larger phase range ascompared to a patch, at the expense of more reflection loss. Each cellhas a ground plane, which can be replaced with a Frequency SelectiveSurface (“FSS”) in various examples to allow for partial opticaltransparency. It is noted that increasing the thickness of the resonantcells' substrate reduces their reflection loss and decreases their phaserange. It is also noted that decreasing the cell size reduces thereflection loss at the expense of a decreased phase range.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example single layer patch resonant cell. Cell600, similar to cell 500, is a single layer resonant patch formed ofmetal printed on a glass substrate for attachment to a glass window in asmart infrastructure or smart vehicle. Stack 602 illustrates the layersof materials in cell 600: a glass substrate 604 underneath a PVB layer606 to act as a glue to bond the glass substrate 604 to a metal groundplane 608. The metal ground plane is followed by another glass substrate610, a PVB layer 612, and the metal resonant patch 614. Lastly, a glasslayer 616 is added on top. Similar to glass substrate 604, glass layer616 prevents exposing the metal resonant patch 614 and the metal groundplane 608 to air, which leads to oxidation. FIG. 7 illustrates a doublelayer patch resonant cell 700 that is formed similarly to cell 600,except that it has two resonant patches. Stack 702 illustrates thelayers of materials in cell 700, which constitute glass layers on thebottom and top to prevent oxidation of the double patches 704-706.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , a schematic diagram of a resonant cell for usein an active sensing and communication system in accordance with variousexamples is described. Resonant cell 800 is a metamaterial cell having aconductive outer portion or loop 802 surrounding a conductive area 804with a space in between. Resonant cell 800 may be configured on adielectric layer and a glass substrate, with the conductive areas andloops provided around and between different cells. A voltage controlledvariable reactance device 806, e.g., a varactor 810, provides acontrolled reactance between the conductive area 804 and the conductiveloop 802. The controlled reactance is controlled by an applied voltage,such as an applied reverse bias voltage in the case of a varactor. Thechange in reactance changes the behavior of the cell 800, enabling areflect array of multiple cells 800 to provide beam steering.

Graph 812 illustrates how the varactor 810's capacitance changes withthe applied voltage. The change in reactance of varactor changes thebehavior of the cell 800, enabling a resonant array of cells 800 toprovide focused, high gain beams directed to any desired location. Eachbeam may be directed to have a phase that varies with the reactance ofthe varactor, as shown in graph 814 illustrating the change in phasewith the change in reactance of varactor 602. With the application of acontrol voltage to the varactor 810, the cell 800 is able to generatebeams at any direction about a plane.

It is appreciated that the disclosed sensing and communication systemexamples are a dramatic improvement to wireless systems as they provideenhanced communications and coverage for wireless users within and inthe vicinity of smart infrastructures. The disclosed examples can befabricated in different configurations, act as passive or active relaysand be easily attached to glass windows in smart infrastructure,vehicles and so on.

It is appreciated that the previous description of the disclosedexamples is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make oruse the present disclosure. Various modifications to these examples willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other examples withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples shown hereinbut is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A signal reflection system, comprising: asubstrate layer comprising a conductive layer and a dielectric layer; areflective layer formed of an array of reflective elements, thereflective elements arranged to generate a radio frequency (“RF”) signalthat reflects incident signals in a reflection direction, the reflectivelayer formed over the substrate layer; and a transparent material layerforming a transparent conductor for controlling the signal reflectionsystem.
 2. The signal reflection system of claim 1, wherein the systemis a passive system adapted for wireless communication, wherein thesignal reflection system is part of a network to cascade RF signalsthroughout an area.
 3. The signal reflection system of claim 1, whereinthe array is a reflect array having multiple reflective elements ofdifferent sizes in an arrangement.
 4. The signal reflection system ofclaim 3, wherein the reflection direction is determined by thearrangement of the reflective elements.
 5. The signal reflection systemof claim 1, wherein the reflective layer is a frequency selective layerresponsive to a range of frequencies.
 6. The signal reflection system ofclaim 5, wherein the range of frequencies is a millimeter frequencyrange.
 7. The signal reflection system of claim 5, further comprising acontrol means coupled to the array, wherein the control means is adaptedto steer reflected signals to a second direction, wherein the reflectiondirection is a first direction and the second direction is differentfrom the first direction.
 8. The signal reflection system of claim 1,wherein the reflective elements are arranged in a periodic pattern toreflect incident waves.
 9. The signal reflection system of system ofclaim 1, wherein the reflective elements are embedded on a portion of abuilding.
 10. The signal reflection system of system of claim 1, whereinthe reflection direction is to an area outside a line of sight area of aradio transmitter.
 11. The signal reflection system of claim 10, whereina reflected signal improves a quality of signal to said area.
 12. Thesignal reflection system of claim 1, wherein the array is positioned ona glass surface.
 13. The signal reflection system of claim 12, whereinthe array is adapted for steering the RF signal such that a radiationpattern is reinforced in specific directions and suppressed in otherdirections.
 14. The signal reflection system of claim 1, wherein theincident signals are wireless communication signals.
 15. A reflect arraystructure, comprising: a substrate structure comprising multiple layers;a first arrangement of reflective elements on a surface of a reflectivelayer of the substrate structure; a second arrangement of non-reflectiveareas on the surface of the reflective layer; a conductive controlconfiguration on a connection layer separated from the reflective layerof the substrate structure; a dielectric layer positioned between thereflective layer and the connection layer; and a transparent materiallayer forming a transparent conductor for controlling the signalreflection system.
 16. The reflect array structure of claim 15, whereinthe reflective elements and the first arrangement of reflective elementsare artificially structured element used to control and manipulatephysical phenomena, such as the electromagnetic (“EM”) properties of asignal including its amplitude, phase, and wavelength.
 17. The reflectarray structure of claim 16, wherein the reflective elements areconfigured in one or more sizes.
 18. The reflect array structure ofclaim 16, wherein the reflective elements are configured in a one ormore shapes.
 19. The reflect array structure of claim 15, whereinreflective elements and the first arrangement of reflective elements hasa phase distribution for incident signals resulting in redirection in areflection direction.
 20. The reflect array structure of claim 19,wherein reflected signals are amplified.